Shilly-shally means to hesitate, be indecisive, or dawdle.
Shilly-shally means to hesitate, waffle, or dawdle when making a decision.
| Front | shilly-shally \SHIL-ee-SHAL-ee\ |
|---|---|
| Back | verb 1. To waffle. 2. Dawdle. [Shall I? Shall I? When you just don't know what to do, it may feel as if asking that question twice will somehow help you decide. The early 1600s saw the use of the phrase "stand shall I, shall I" to describe vacillation or indecision. By 1700, the phrase had been altered to "shill I, shall I," most likely because people just liked the vowel alteration (that's the same process that gave us "dillydally" and "wishy-washy"). Soon after, the adverbial "shilly-shally" made the jump from slang to literature, and by the late 1700s it was being used not only as an adverb, but also as an adjective, a noun, and a verb. From reduplication of the question, "Shall I?"] "We go after bigger things, and don't stand shilly-shally on the brink as you do." - Anthony Trollope; The Way We Live Now; 1875. |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Periphrasis philippine periphrasis puh-rif-ruh-sis noun roundabout words latin
Previous card: Hyssop his-uhp bible plant origan twigs ceremonial sprinkling
Up to card list: Hard English Vocabulary